Mobile or Web first?

Bernard Leong

Priorities, Challenges, Paradigms on Product Development in the IDM industry.

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The new digital dilemma• Priorities: Product

Management from Start-up to Corporation.

• Challenges: Desktop vs Mobility, Device Fragmentation & Market Demand

• Paradigms: Responsive Web Design, Lean Startup Model

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Priorities3

In a start-up...• Setting: Limited engineering & financial

resources.

• Strategy: Develop a product based on an idea that drives sustainable business growth

• Market: B2B or B2C

• Execution: Quick and iterative development based on customer feedback & internal metrics

• Platform Choices: Should we start with one platform or a solution opening up to many?

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In a large corporation• Setting: Strong but focussed engineering &

financial resources.

• Strategy: Expanding a portfolio of products or a product to other platforms (mobility).

• Market: B2B or B2C

• Execution: Longer product development cycles

• Question: Should we start with one platform or a solution opening up to many?

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Challenges6

“Desktop First” Perspective

Facebook7

“Mobile First” Perspective

Fab.com - E-Commerce Site8

Native vs Web App

Picture Credits: Six Revisions9

Development Native App Web App

Development ProcessEach platform has its own development process (iOS, Android, WP7, BB)

Runs on the browser of the device (desktop or mobile)

Programming LanguageEach platform has its own programming language: Java (Android), Objective-C (iOS)

Written on HTML5, CSS, Javascript or web application frameworks: PHP, Ruby or Python.

Programming Tools Standard SDKs provided by each platform. No standard frameworks.

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Development Native App Web App

Capabilities

Leverage on native features, information & hardware of the device, e.g, camera, GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer.

Leverage on limited features: GPS, camera.

Installation & UpdatesInstallation as an application & requires users to download & update.

No installation and updates are made to the web server without user intervention

Distribution App stores and marketplaces No app stores but requires SEO and social media efforts.

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Which mobile platform?

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Display Resolution & Screen Sizes

Picture Credits: Display Resolution (Wikipedia) 13

Numbers can be deceiving ...

32%

49%

12%

4% 2%2%

Apple iPhone OSAndroid OSBlackberry RIMWindows MobileWindows PhoneOthers

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Paradigms16

Can we build a product as quickly as possible?

Eric Ries: The Lean Startup Model

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How do we develop for various devices?

Responsive Web Design18

Source: DCI - http://www.dotcominfoway.com/ 19

Summary• Priorities: Focus on the business objectives first

before product development.

• Challenges: Make decisions on product based on design & platforms. Successful platforms tend to focus on one platforms.

• Paradigms: Build products with modern ideas from the lean startup model and responsive web design to limit the complexities of the mobile web.

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